State of Connecticut Archives: on Principles & Values

Linda McMahon:
OpEd: Spent $50M of her own money on 2010 Senate race

Shays questioned McMahon's conservative credentials in light of her big spending, $50 million, during the 2010 race she lost to Richard Blumenthal. McMahon strongly asserted how her 2010 campaign spending "was my money" and chided
Shays for voting for earmarks like the notorious Alaska bridge project. "Congressman Shays, $50 million pales in comparison to the 'bridge to nowhere' that you voted on as a congressman for $200 million."

In pointing out his own business experience, Westby criticized McMahon's WWE ties. He said he's helped create "real jobs, not men bulked up on steroids, not women prancing around in bikinis"--an allusion to WWE's history of sexually provocative skits and
past pattern of steroid abuse.

McMahon defended WWE, the company she launched with her husband, Vince. "WWE has almost 700 jobs today,'' she said. "I'm very proud of earning my money the old-fashioned way, [through] hard work, a great work ethic.''

Instead of putting an end to all the talk about steroids and the WWE, this debate re-energized the issue. Blumenthal brought up dead wrestlers, "the death clause," and steroids, slamming McMahon repeatedly on the history of her company. McMahon repeated
her theme that this election is about jobs and that Blumenthal knows nothing about how to create them.

It didn't work. This will be remembered as another fight over WWE and McMahon's defense of her company's questionable behavior. "I have fought to
protect children from abuse and neglect,'' Blumenthal said. "My opponent has marketed sex and violence to children. There have been seven dead wrestlers since she started this campaign.''

To this, McMahon replied that the "consequence of death is a ver
sad thing... those consequences were not the result of ring performance."

McMahon concluded, "You can always change the channel. It's insulting to the millions of people who watch WWE each week to suggest that it is less than quality entertainment."

Richard Blumenthal:
Seven of McMahon's WWE wrestlers have died this year

McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, tried to paint Blumenthal as a career politician who has "a difficult time telling the truth," mentioning the instances when he misspoke about his military record.

Blumenthal shot back, saying he would not be lectured by someone who has badly treated her employees, bringing up how seven wrestlers have died since the newcomer politician began her quest last year to fill the
Senate seat. "The people of Connecticut know me and they have taken the measure of my character over 20 years," Blumenthal said.

McMahon, who acknowledged the
WWE has "pushed the envelope" over the years with its programming, said she remains proud of the company, which she said has created an average of 20 jobs a year over the last 28 years and expects to hire an additional 100 to 140 workers next year.

Source: NPR coverage of 2010 CT Senate debate
Oct 12, 2010

Richard Blumenthal:
I have spent my life helping people build their futures

Blumenthal and McMahon traded barbs on their respective records. "She is different from me," said Blumenthal, longtime state attorney general and former General Assembly member. "She has spent her life building her fortune. I have spent my life helping
people build their futures." Blumenthal, citing his work as attorney general, presented himself as a fighter "for the people of Connecticut" and his opponents as beholden to special interests.

McMahon stood by her record as former chief and executive officer of World Wrestling Entertainment. She painted Blumenthal as a career politician who, as a state legislator, voted for a record tax increase. "I don't think we can send
Mr. Blumenthal to Washington with his tax-and-spend philosophy," McMahon said. "We can't afford Dick Blumenthal in Washington."

Source: Wilton Villager coverage of 2010 CT Senate debate
Oct 7, 2010

The above quotations are from State of Connecticut Politicians: Archives.